Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[Knifemaker]

A Tale of Two Turkeys.

It was the best of thymes, it was the wors......

well let's not bring in negative thoughts here. Two 8.5 pound turkey breasts, put into an apple juice and salt brine for the night. One to be baked in the oven at 350, stuffed in a cooking bag and stuffed with cut up apples.

The other to be smoked in the reverse offset at 240-250 unstuffed, using apple wood.

More to follow.....

 

[Fred W]

What a great idea. Especially since your family doesnt care for the dark meat anyway.

Life conspired against me smoking anything for this holiday. But, my smoker is still outside in the back yard under cover and a blanket of snow. High temp is only going to be around 18F here today. No, that is not good outdoor cooking temperatures. But who knows, there may be a thaw before the heavy stuff sets in...

We will have our whole bird cooked in the indoor oven only. But the important thing is we will partake of our feast with our family, and for that we are most thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope you can all enjoy the best holiday of the year with your closest friends, family and loved ones.

 

[Knifemaker]

High today will be 60 degrees. Here's the one going into the smoker. The apples on the side are to just add some moisture and hold the breast upright. Expecting 4 -5 hours for this cook at 225-235F

 

[Knifemaker]

All came out well. Got no photos of the oven baked breast as we went through it pretty quick. Tender, juicy, but nothing we have not experienced before. Although I tried to time it so both would be done at the same time, the smoked breast took a bit longer. Worth waiting for

Likely the best chunk of turkey I've ever had. Moist, tender, and the smoke flavor just perfect. Everyone was impressed. Lucky me has some good lunch meat for next week.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

 

[08FJR4ME]

I am taking advantage of the warmer temps today. I put a pork butt on the OK, joe at 4:00AM this morning.

I also took the XR out for spin too.

Dave

 

[Fred W]

Mmmm. Pulled Pork! Be sure to post some BBQ pR0n.

All my recent pork butt purchases have gone into the grinder for breakfast sausage. We don’t buy sausage at the market anymore.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Pulled it off at 4:00PM, 12 hours later. Sorry, no pic's. but I can tell you it was fantastic. The last couple of hours the cold weather was coming in and the OK joe was struggling to stay above 200 degrees. The meat fell off the bone and pulled apart easily. It was a last minute decision and I am glad I did it. I froze three separate bags for later.

Dave

 

[Knifemaker]

Well, to give Fred his fix of food porn, we did up the 2nd to last rack of baby backs tonight.

As awesome as ever. An excellent way to start the New Year:

 

[Bounce]

With a cold snap tonight and intermittent rain today, I unlimbered the smoker and took care of some pending protein that was in the freezer.

2 turkey breasts, a rack of ribs, and some smoked sausage

It was chilly enough to need a jacket later in the day as the sun left shadows in the back yard, but not so cold that I couldn't enjoy a good cigar and a double-shot-espresso Americano while the smoker was running.

One of the 2 turkey breasts

No rub on the ribs this time. Just salt, pepper and smokey love.

 

[Fred W]

So lucky... far too cold for that around here.

Looks great. I’ll have to try the Dalmatian rub on pork ribs sometime. That’s how I prefer my beef ribs because it lets the flavor of the meat shine.

 

[Bounce]

It's 32º today. The drizzles yesterday and the cold snap today were why I jumped in and did it all Thursday.

Yesterday evening the kitchen was full of wonderful smells when my wife nuked some of the sausage.

 

[Auburn]

From December 22nd cook. Putting the new RecTec to the test for the Christmas party. 9 racks of ribs (with optional shelf) in the about 2 hours into the 3 hour smoke part of the cook. 8 hours later, they were done. Barely had enough for the party. Sorry no shots of the them completed.

They offer a insulation package which helps a lot in cold weather. I really am liking the RecTec, you can set the temp, and through their app, it graphs the temp. It will hold temp within 1-2 degrees through out. Very impressed and the results have been very consistent.

 

[Fred W]

Wow, that’s a nice load of ribs. Isn’t the RecTec a pellet burner? What brand and wood species of pellet did you use?

 

[Auburn]

Wow, that’s a nice load of ribs. Isn’t the RecTec a pellet burner? What brand and wood species of pellet did you use?

Yes it is a pellet burner. Their premium blend of Hickory, cherry, hard maple, & apple. I smoke them for 3 hours at 180F (their smoke setting), then foil them with a little water or apple juice for 2 hours at 225F, then unfoil for another hour at 225F, and then sauce them and cook 30-minutes to 1 hour at 225F. Loosely based on the 3-2-1 recipe.

 

[Bounce]

Sounds good. We sauce on the side so people can pick their passion.

 

[Auburn]

Sounds good. We sauce on the side so people can pick their passion.

We don't get too creative on that here. I just use Sweet Baby Rays (Costco size). We do a lot more on the rub side. It is my wife's recipe on that. Although I had her cut down on the heat as it was way overpowering the rest of the flavor.

Sometimes I will use a local seasoning salt (Johnnys - developed by Johnny's Dock restaurant along the Tacoma waterfront - similar to Lawyrs season salt) and add brown sugar when I foil it. It is fun experimenting, especially now that I have a BBQ that is very consistent and predictable.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Dice some onions and garlic, saute and add to Baby Rays.

 

[Auburn]

Dice some onions and garlic, saute and add to Baby Rays.

Sounds like a great addition to the sauce

 

[Bounce]

I have several different rubs I normally use (including one I make from scratch). This last time it was just S&P and was still good.

 

[SnowAviation]

I love this FJR website.

It has a shit-ton of information on ride reports, photos, maintenance help, and general entertainment for FJR related subjects.

AND one mega-huge thread about smoking that I can't stop reading every time I visit.

Gotta run outside and check on the Tri-Tip in the smoker, it's just about done...